Gordon Laxer
I am the founding Director and former head of Parkland Institute at the University of Alberta, a non-corporate research institute that researches public policy in the public interest. I am a socially-engaged, public intellectual, Political Economist and professor emeritus at the University of Alberta. I authored the award-winning "After the Sands. Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians" 2015 Douglas & McIntyre http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/book/after-the-sands. I am also author or editor of five other books, including "Open for Business: The Roots of Foreign Ownership in Canada" (Oxford Univ Press 1989), which received the John Porter Award for best book written about Canada. I have published over 50 journal articles and refereed book chapters and reports. I was the Principal Investigator of a $1.9 million SSHRC-funded research project: "Neoliberal Globalism and its Challengers: Reclaiming the Commons in the Semi-periphery" 2000-2006. (SSHRC is the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada)
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deglobalization). I contend that hyper commodification has been strongest in phases of global integration and that, in contrast, the renationalization of economies has produced the most conducive conditions for decommodification. I outline a radical strategy for decommodification, which emphasizes its egalitarian and communitarian character, and contrast this with reactionary variations that support patriarchal and hierarchical versions of decommodification.
By making assumptions about which factors are important to investigate, every perspective must consequently ignore other factors, factors that may be crucial in competing perspectives. By understanding the assumptions of each perspective, scholars can gain insights about their own perspectives. What assumptions are they making? What factors are they ignoring? Equally important, what can they learn from competing perspectives? This chapter outlines the assumptions of each school of thought and notes their similarities and differences.
deglobalization). I contend that hyper commodification has been strongest in phases of global integration and that, in contrast, the renationalization of economies has produced the most conducive conditions for decommodification. I outline a radical strategy for decommodification, which emphasizes its egalitarian and communitarian character, and contrast this with reactionary variations that support patriarchal and hierarchical versions of decommodification.
By making assumptions about which factors are important to investigate, every perspective must consequently ignore other factors, factors that may be crucial in competing perspectives. By understanding the assumptions of each perspective, scholars can gain insights about their own perspectives. What assumptions are they making? What factors are they ignoring? Equally important, what can they learn from competing perspectives? This chapter outlines the assumptions of each school of thought and notes their similarities and differences.
By making assumptions about which factors are important to investigate, every perspective must consequently ignore other factors, factors that may be crucial in competing perspectives. By understanding the assumptions of each perspective, scholars can gain insights about their own perspectives. What assumptions are they making? What factors are they ignoring? Equally important, what can they learn from competing perspectives? This chapter outlines the assumptions of each school of thought and notes their similarities and differences.
1) Place a permanent moratorium on new Sands production.
2) Give a closing time for Sands projects and units of projects
that long ago paid off the capital costs, starting with the initial
Suncor and Syncrude units, which are over 50 years old.
3) Require each Sands project to lower its emissions annually by 3–4% per year (2–3 Mt) starting in 2018. Projects that fail to meet GHG reduction targets must be fined at a level higher than the costs to comply. A just transition for Sands workers will require research, thought, and consultations with impacted, workers and communities.